Time recorder



May 5, 1942. c. D. LAKE TIME RECORDER Original Filed July s, 1938 FIG. 1.

l0 Sheets-Sheet l BY m ATTORNEY y 5, 1942- c. D. LAKE 2,282,140

TIME RECORDER Original Filed July 6, 1938 10 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2.

C. D. LAKE TIME RECORDER May 5, 1942.

Original Filed July 6, 1938 10 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG 3.

lNVEpI?'OR M AT ToRNEY May 5, 1942. c, LAKE 2,282,140

TIME RECORDER Original Filed July 6, 1958 10 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG. 4.

w. a Z E r" I i WIN UJIWIH ll m no ma no 0 'L l w 11% 6 m7 i I88 i i: m9 1 i 1. 166 EH ATTO R N EY y 5, 1942- c. D. LAKE 2,282,140

TIME RECORDER Original Filed July 6, 1938 10 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 5.

INVENTOR Ai'ToR'NEY C. D. LAKE TIME RECORDER May 5, 1942.

Original Filed July 6, 1938 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR M 2.2? Mil-H WM. m

11 i .M t

FIG. 6.

ATTO R N EY y 1942- c. D. LAKE 2,282,140

TIME RECORDER Original Filed July 6, 1938 10 Sheets-Sheet '7 C. D. LAKE TiME RECORDER May 5, 1942.

Original Filed July 6, 1938 10 Sheets-Sheet 8 FIG. 11.

' AT'ToRNEY May 5, 1942. c. D. LAKE 2,232,140

TIME RECORDER Original Filed July 6, 1938 1Q Sheets-Sheet 9 ATTORNEY c. D. LAKE TIME RECORDER May 5, 1942.

Original Filed July 6, 1938 10.Sheets-Sheet l0 ATTO R N EY Patented May 5, 1942 TIP/IE RECORDER Clair D. Lake, Binghamton, 'N. Y., assignor to International Business Machines Corporation. New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Original application July 6, 1938, Serial No.

Divided and this application February 21, 1940, Serial No. 320,024

5 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in time recorders and, more particularly, to recorders of the type used in printing a time registration upon the insertion of a card.

The general object of the present invention, which is divided out of my pending application Serial No. 217,685, now Patent No. 2,255,010, resides in the provision of an improved card recorder having positive driving means for all its various operations.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel programming device by which minute regulation of the program operations of the recorder may be obtained and by which the same programming operation may be repeated after a two minute interval if a pre-arranged program so requires.

Still another object resides in the provision of novel means for shifting the card position horizontally and vertically with respect to a type wheel unit so that the card, when inserted in the card receiver, is maintained in alignment with the proper printing position according to a pre-arranged program so that a neat appearing time record is assured.

The present recorder is designed to reduce the time necessary for each employee to get his time of arrival or departure recorded on his card by the provision of novel automatic printing means which operates immediately when the employee inserts his card in a card receiver and exerts a slight downward pressure on the card. Also, means are provided for printing on the side of the card facing the operator so as to eliminate the time wasted in turning the card pleting one revolution, trips carry mechanism of a type familiar in the art to advance the hour then depress it again to cause another printing operation. Customary ribbon spacing means cooperating with the printing operation and ribbon reversing means under the control of the ribbon are provided.

Other objects of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which disclose, by way of example, the principle of the invention and the best mode, which has been contemplated, of applying that principle.

In the drawings:

Figs. 1 and 2 are front and side elevation views of the machine, respectively, showing the relative location of the various parts.

Figs. 3, l, and 5 are sectional views of the machine taken in the directions 3-3, 44, and

around to check the recording thereon, this time becoming of consequence when there is a long line-up of employees at the recorder around the noon hour or at closing time.

According to the invention, minute impulses from a synchronous motor, master clock, or other timing device cause the engagement of a clutching means so as to connect a type wheel unit and programming mechanism drive with the m0- tor and cause the rotation of the motor to advance the minute type wheel and programming mechanism concurrently. The clutching mechanism controls further clutching means, according to a pre-arranged program, for initiating such functions as horizontal shifting of the card abutment and ribbon color shift. The mechanism for each of these operations is positively driven in both directions, the clutch drive mechanism rotating in the same direction, however, at all times.

The minute type wheel, upon com- 55, respectively of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5a is a detail view of a portion of the ribbon spacing mechanism.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken generally along the line i-G of Fig. 8.

Fig. '7 is a sectional view taken along the line '?--'l of 11 showing the print clutch and operating mechanism associated therewith.

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the type wheel unit,

I card receiver, and print mechanism.

Figs. 8a and 8b are detail views of the print interlock mechanism.

Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken at 9 of Fig. 11 showing the ribbon color shift clutch mechanism.

Fig. 10 is a sectional view taken along the line |0-lii in Fig. 11 and shows the type wheel and program mechanism drive clutch and its associated operating mechanism.

Fig. 11 is a detail View insection of the clutch unit, showing the relative location of the various drive clutches.

Fig. 12 is a sectional view taken along the line |2l2 in Fig. 11, showing the horizontal shift clutch mechanism.

Fig. 12a is a sectional view of one of the program disk attachable castings.

Fig. 12b is a detail plan view of a portion of the programming mechanism shown in Fig. 12.

Fig. 13 is a front elevation detail view of the vertical shift clutch and its associated trip mechanism.

Fig. 14 is a side view partly in section of the card receiver carriage.

Fig. 15 is a perspective view of. the card receiver.

Fig. 16 is a plan view of the-carriage in. detail.

Fig. 17 is a sectional view of the carriage shown in Fig. 18.

Fig. 18 is a schematic wiring diagram of. the machine.

Fig. 19 is a side view of a portion of the-ver-- tical. shift drive mechanism..

Referring now to the drawings, particularly, to Fig. 5,. acontrol magnetZB-is energized once each minute by a brief. impulse from. a timing device. such asa master clock. (not shown), in a manner well. known in the art.. Magnet 25 controls the operation of the drive mechanism for a type wheel unit and programming device which will now be described.

. Upon the energization ,of magnet 25, armature. 26 is moved to the left about a pivot shaft 21, and an arm 28 fastened to the armature is thereby carried to the left. This motionis transmitted through. a pivotally connected link 29 to an arm 30 onwhich is a pivoted feed pawl3l. Thus arm 30 and pawl 3| are moved to the left against the action. of a spring 32'. At-the termination of the impulse which energized the magnet 25, the magnet becomes deenergized and the mechanism just described is restored to normal under the urging of spring 32. On the return stroke pawl 3! engages a ratchet wheel 34 so as to space this ratchet wheel one tooth in a counterclockwisedirection. A detent 35' is provided to position ratchet wheel 34 after the spacing and at all other times to prevent backward movement of the same. 35' rides up out of one tooth and into the next tooth, accomplishing this by rocking on its pivot 36. The detent 3.5, in. rising out of a tooth of the ratchet wheel 34, rocks counterclockwise causing two operations to happen concurrently; namely, the closing of the motor circuit and the engaging of a clutch mechanism to connect the motor drive with a combined type wheel and program drive mechanism.

The motor circuit is closed by mechanism operated from an extension 35a on the detent 35. This extension, as it moves down, encounters a projection 390. (Fig; 2) on an arm 39 causing this arm to be depressed. An arm 40 associated with arm 39 is also depressed so that both of these arms move in a counterclockwise direction about a common pivot stud 41. Arm 40 is provided with a contact operating extension 42 which is moved to the left to close motor contacts 43 thereby to complete the motor circuit. This circuit will be described later in connection with an explanation of the wiring diagram of the machine (Fig. 18).

The rocking motion of the detent 35 is also P transmitted through its pivot shaft 36 to rock a latch arm 54 correspondingly (Fig. Latch arm 54 moves to the left to release a latch 55 and permit a dog 55 to drop into engagement with a ratchet 51 under the urging of a spring During the spacing operation detent 58. The latch and the dog 55 are mounted upon the face of a cam 59, and the ratchet 51 is fixed to a shaft 53. Altogether, this mechanism forms the type wheel and program drive clutch, generally designated 59, which is now engaged.

The motor 55 (Fig. 3) now drives clutch through one revolution in the following manner. A gear 41 is driven in a clockwise direction through a worm gear connection 46 by the motor 45. This rotation is transmitted through a shaft 4 3, a gear 49 affixed to the rear extremity thereof (Fig. 4.), an idler gear 51, and a drive gear 52 to drive clutch shaft 53 so as to rotate clutch 68. At this time motor contacts 43 are held closed by a pivoted latch arm 38 (Fig. 2) which moved into. a latching position under the action of a spring. 33a when arms 39 and 4% were depressed so as to retain the arms in this position and thus keepthe motor contacts 43 closed. However, as clutch F50 startsto rotate, a detent 3.7 (Fig. 10) rides out of. a recessionin. the periphery of cam 59 and, in doing so, tends to move clockwise about shaft I81. In this movement, an. extension 3111. on the detent stretches a biasing spring 310. An adjacent member 3'56. is. fixed to shaft I91 and has an abutting connection with detent 31 which effects a clockwise movement of shaft I91. A latch arm 38 (Fig. 10) is fixed to the shaft at 38a and is thus also rotated, the bottom portion thereof being moved outwardly, or. to the left as viewed in Fig, 10, so as to release arms 39 and 40. These arms, however, are held in their operative position by mechanism controlled by detent 3-1, which'will be described hereinafter, so as to maintain motor contacts 43 closed for the major part of the cycle of revolution of clutch 60. Meanwhile, detent 35 and latch arm 54 are restoring to normal under the impetus of a spring 44. Consequently the clutch is latched up at the end of one revolution by the latch arm 54. The motor circuit is broken as a result of detent 31 dropping into the recession in the periphery of cam 59 once more at the. end of the revolution. The manner in which the detent mechanism controls the motor circuit will be described later, it being sufficient for the present to state that as a result of dropping in of. the detent 3?, arms 39 and 40 are permitted. to move upward and extension 42 to move to the right to open motor contacts 43.

During the above-mentioned revolution of the clutch 60, motor 45 is connected through this clutch to a type wheel and program mechanism drive which will now be described. As clutch cam 59 rotates, a gear 6| (Fig. l) affixed to the rear face. of this cam also rotates to transmit motion through an idlergear 52, gear 53 and beveled gear connection 64 to drive vertical shaft 65; then through spiral gear 66 and gear 61 to drive shaft 68 on which the type wheel unit is mounted (Fig. 8). A minute wheel H is fastened to the shaft 68 whereas an hour wheel 12 and a day wheel 13 are movably mounted on this shaft. The gear ratio of the drive mechanism just described is such that the minute type wheel II is advanced one position by the one revolution of the clutch 50. Graduations on this wheel read from 00 to 59. On the hour wheel 12. graduations read from 1 to 12 halfway around the wheel to represent a. m. and 1 to 12 for the other half to denote p. m. This method of underlining p. in. hours is a distinction familiar in the art. Upon one revolution of the minute wheel as a result of sixty minute advances, a mechanical carry is operated to advance the hour wheel 12 one position, and likewise upon one complete revolution of the hour wheel by means of 24 hourly advances, the day Wheel 13 is advanced one position. The carry mechanism used is well known in the art and therefore will presently be described but briefly.

Aiiixed to the units type wheel H is a cam 14 provided with a cam follower 15 which is fixed to a shaft 16 so that this shaft is rocked as cam follower 15 rides up on the high point of cam 14. A carry lever "attached to shaft 16 is raised, and then, when the cam follower drops off the high point of cam 14, this carry lever is dropped suddenly into engagement with a rachet 18 causing the camming out of a detent pawl 19 (Fig. 7). Simultaneously, the ratchet 18 is fed one tooth by means of an ear 8!] on a feed pawl 8| which rides under a stud 82 on the feed stroke and over this stud on the return. At all times, except when positively cammed out of position, detent 19 positions the hour wheel ratchet 18. The feeding of the ratchet 18 one tooth advances the hour wheel 12 one position, these two members being joined together by a sleeve connection. The day wheel 13 is advanced one position under the control of the hour wheel by means similar to the carry means just described. A cam 84 is fixed to the hour wheel ratchet l8 and is provided with a cam follower 85 which upon traversing the surface of the cam 84 operates a carry lever 86 (Fig. 8) causing this carry lever to cooperate with a ratchet 8'! to advance the day wheel 13 one position for each complete revolution of the hour wheel '12. Carry lever 86 is similar to carry lever 11 already described but is freely mounted on shaft 16 rather than being fixed thereto. Both carry levers drop into engagement with their ratchets by gravity and the action of a spring such as the one designated 83 in Fig. '7.

Concurrently with the advancing of the minute type wheel by the drive mechanism described above, a large program disk is shifted by the same mechanism. Program disk 10 (Fig. 1) is connected to the vertical shaft 65 by a spiral gear 69 on that shaft and the gear ratio is such that the disk is advanced one position for each revolution of the drive clutch 60, or in other words, one tooth movement of the disk 10 each minute. There are 360 teeth around the circumference of the disk, and a scale is provided showing fivee minute readings and is numbered for every fifteen-minute reading. Disk 10 makes one revolution every six hours and therefore four revolutions in a day.

Mounted on the disk 10 are various castings 88 a which may be spaced conveniently around the disk 10 in accordance with program requirements. The castings 88 are fastened to the disk by a screw 88a (Fig. 12a) and are fixed as to position by a pin 88b cooperating with screw 88a. f

It is understood that the elements 89 may be I attached to the castings 88 or mounted in other ways than by the one just described, the insertion of the elements in slots on the casting being suggested simply as a convenient method of locating them.

The top edges of inserts 89 have In the machine disclosed herein, two operations are programmed directly from the program disk '10. These are the horizontal shifting of the card receiver to position the card for morning in, noon out, etc. time recordings thereon, and the color shifting of the ribbon so that out-of-program recordings are of a different color from those in program and ar therefore easily distinguishable. Also, if it is desired that the "morning in, noon out, etc. recordings be spaced vertically rather than horizontally on the card, the program disk 10 may be arranged to program the vertical shift of the card abutment for this feature. However, the machine disclosed is designed to space the daily record horizontally and the day-to-day change vertically on the card, and it is believed that from the description hereinafter it will become apparent to anyone familiar with the art how the machine could be changed to give a daily record down the card and a day-to-day change across the card.

The mechanism which causes the horizontal shifting of the card receiver carriage in accordance with a prearranged daily program will now be explained with reference to Fig. 12. As a program finger 92 engages a projection on an insert 89, it tends to be raised upward, that is, in a counter-clockwise direction about its pivot shaft 93. However, if a four leaf cam 94 is so positioned at this time, in a manner to be described later, that it lies in the path of finger 92, then the result is that pivot 93 is rocked downwardly about an axis 85. This movement carries latch arm 96 to the right allowing the horizontal shift clutch, generally designated I88, to become engaged. Clutch IE0 is a one revolution clutch similar to the drive clutch 68 already described. The consecutive slots on the castings 88 represent minute positions and the inserts 89 placed in these slots therefore cause programming operations to be initiated only on some minute and not between minutes. Thus, when clutch I 89 is engaged from the program disk 50, clutch is being engaged at the same time as the result of the energization of the control magnet 25 by a minute impulse. This means that the program disk, along with inserts 89, is shifted during the clutch revolution which follows so that the tip of arm 92 drops down into a space between inserts and thus permits latch arm S6 to restore to the left under the urging of a spring 96a so that it is positioned to latch up clutch I08 at the end of one revolution. A similar program operation may be repeated after a two minute interval because like inserts must be spaced at least that far apart so that the tip of arm 82 may drop down between the inserts properly to allow latch arm 85 to be fully restored to its latching position.

During the revolution of the horizontal shift clutch I after it has been tripped from the program disk as described above, motion is transmitted through a gear M6 on the clutch Ii /El and further gears I81, I08, and I89 to drive a hori zontal shaft l Ill. This shaft has a double thread (Fig. 4) and is so designed that a cam follower H la mounted in a bearing ll! of the card receiver carriage mechanism rides in one of the two threads of shaft ill! for one direction of carriage movement and is guided into the other thread on the return movement. Thus although the horizontal shaft H0 is rotated in the same direction for both directions of the carriage, the carriage is positively driven on the return just as it is positively driven in the normal direction.

The. lead of the thread is such that the carriage is horizontally shifted a distance equal to one printing. position for each operation of the horizontal shift clutch lot from the program disk. The return of the card receiver carriage to the starting point, may be effected under program mechanism control some time during: the night or any convenient time previous to the next period in which time recordings are to be made.

The color-shifting of'the'ribbon is another operation which is initiated from the program disk.

The ribbon I 35 (Fig. 5) is double width, the upper half being of one color and the lower half of some contrasting color. In the particular machine disclosed blue and red are the colors employed to denote in-program and out-of-program recordings, respectively. When a color shift of the ribbon is initiated from a predetermined setup of the program disk T3, a. ribbon color shift clutch generally designated I28 (Fig. 11), which is similar to. clutches I00 and 60 except for the fact that it is provided with two latch points, is tripped by the action of fingers I2I cooperating with a four leaf cam I22 which is exactly similar to the action of fingers 92 and cam 9 for the horizontal shift mechanism previously described. A pivot shaft 93a, similar to pivot 33, is rocked down about the axis 95 to cause the tripping of clutch I which, upon engagement turns only revolution because latch II9 has two latch points 180 degrees apart. A complementary cam I23 moves with the clutch through this distance, this cam being provided with a double arm cam follower I24 (Fig. 5) which is fixed to the front of a pivot shaft I25 and has an arm I26 fastened to the other end of shaft I 25.

Assuming that the two-color ribbon I is in the position shown in Fig. 5, in which position the upperhalf of the ribbon is operative in the printing operation to be described later, the rotation of cam I23 causes cam follower I24 to rock downwardly and arm I26 to rock upwardly. This raises a crank arm I28 thereby to rock shaft I29 to which the crank arm I28 is fixed.

At the left extremity of shaft I29 is a link connection use which is raised, and carries a crank arm [3| up with it. Arm I3I is provided with a stud I32 interposed between the edges of two large diameter portions of the shaft I33 to which a ribbon spool I34 is attached, and thus as stud I32 is raised it raises shaft I33. At the right extremity of shaft I29 is a shaft I 33a (Fig. 1) on which is a ribbon spool [34a and this shaft and spool are raised simultaneously with shaft I33 and spool I34 by similar mechanism (not shown). The ribbon I35 is wound on the spools I34 and is therefore moved up as the spools move up. The lower part of the ribbon is thus brought into an operating position so that all recordings made by the machine are of a color correspond ing to the color of the lower half of the ribbon until the ribbon is lowered once more by further operation of the ribbon shift clutch I29, through one half a revolution. The lowering action is the reverse of the raising action, except that while positivel lowering the ribbon complementary cam I23 rotates in the same direction as when raising the ribbon.

At this point it might be well to review the operation of the programming mechanism associated with the program disk I0, two general applications of which having been set forth above. It has ben shown that two things must occur predetermined programming simultaneously in order for a programming operation to be initiated from the program disk.

.That is, one of a group of four programming fingers such as 92 (Fig. 12b) must be cammed upward by a projection on the top edge of an insert 39, and on this movement be encountered by a leaf of cam 94 (Fig. 12) in order that a clutching means may be engaged-to cause the motor to drive the machine through some operation. The purpose of having four programming fingers and a four leaf cam for each separate programming feature hinges upon the fact that the program disk iii makes four revolutions a day.

Suppose, for example, that it is desired to program the machine fora certain operation to occur at noon and midnight. One of the castings 88 is mounted so that an insert 89 placed in one of the slots located in the top thereof is aligned with the 12 hour reading on the program disk. In this case onl two projections on the insert 89 would be necessary (Fig. 120,) and these aligned with the second and fourth program fingers from the rear respectively, assuming that the time of day when the disk Ill first moves the insert 89 under the tips of the program fingers 92 is 6:00 a m. At this time the first or innermost leaf of the cam 94 is positioned in the path of the first program finger, but there is no projection on the insert 89 to operate this finger. The second finger is raised because it encounters a projection on the insert, but no leaf of the cam is'situated in the path of this finger at this time. The third program finger from the rear is not encountered by a projection nor is there a leaf of the cam in alignment therewith. The fourth finger encounters a projection but not a leaf of the cam. Thus, the special operation is not initiated at 6:00 a. m. At noon the program disk 10 will have completed another revolution and the insert 89 is again brought in alignment with the program finger tips 92.

During the course of the revolution of the disk, the four leaf cam 94 is rotated counterclockwise a distance sufiicient to bring the second leaf of the cam in alignment with the second program finger. This operation occurs as follows: an arm 98 is unlatchecl upon the energization of magnet 25 by motion transmitted through an arm 24 (Fig. 1) to a pivoted latch 23 which is rocked in a clockwise direction by the leftward movement of armature 26 so as to permit the bottom portion of arm 98 to be moved to the right under the urging of a spring 99. Arm 98, being pivoted at IOI, the top of this arm moves to the left and a feed pawl I I32 (Fig. 12) carried thereby engages a ratchet I03 so as to move this ratchet one tooth counterclockwise. A detent I M is provided to position ratchet I33. Arm 98, once tripped, remains unlatched until a projection I05 mounted on the rear of disk 10 causes it to be latched up by camming the bottom of arm 98 to the left into a latching position on latch 23. Three such projections I 05 are provided so that arm 98 is restored three times after having been tripped so that the ratchet I83 is spaced three times causing the four-leaf cam 94 to rotate one fourth of a revolution counterclockwise. This movement of the cam brings the succeeding leaf into operating position and moves the prior operating leaf away. Since the disk revolves once every six hours, it means that there is one fourth of a revolution of the four-leaf cam during this period. Thus each leaf is brought into operating position for a different six hour period of the day.

To continue with the example, at noon the two required conditions for a programming operation are met in that a projection on insert 89 cams the second program finger upward to be encountered by the second leaf of cam 94. This causes the engaging of the clutching means to connect the motor 45 to the mechanism for driving the machine through the special operation for which 1' the machine was programmed. Then, at 6:00 p. m. the disk will have made another revolution but at this time although the third leaf of the cam 94 is positioned above the third program finger, there is no projection on the insert 69 to cam this finger upward. At midnight, however, the special operation is initiated by the proper movement imparted to the fourth or outermost program finger by a projection on insert 89 and the fourth leaf of the cam 94. In the above manner, therefore, the machine has been programmed for a certain operation to occur at noon and midnight. Obviously, if an operation is to take place several times within a six hour period, more castings 88 and inserts 89 must be positioned around the disk 10 in the proper locations.

In the machine disclosed, the vertical shift of the card abutment represents day-to-day changes, as was previously mentioned, and therefore this movement may be controlled from the hour type wheel 12, one complete revolution of this type wheel occurring once each day. The manner in which this is accomplished will now be described. A cam I31 (Fig. 8) is attached to the hour wheel ratchet 18 by a sleeve I38. A vertical arm I (Fig. 13) having a cam follower projection I39 and a supporting spring I4I at the upper end and a pivoted trip pawl I42 at the lower end. As cam follower I39 rides on cam I31 toward the high point of this cam, arm I40 is moved downwardly. Arm I42 rests against a portion of the frame 50, consequently the action of pawl I42 on the downward stroke of arm I40 is to rock clockwise about its pivot I43 so that the lower extremity of pawl I42 rides under the tip of an arm I44 connected to the latching arm I45 which is pivoted at I45a. This is the position shown in Fig, 13, cam follower I 39 having risen on the high point of cam I31 at this time.

Then, upon slightly further movement of the cam I31, cam follower I39 drops off the high point and arm I40 moves upward under the impetus of spring MI and as it does so pawl I42 catches on the top of arm I44 and raises this arm. This action causes arm I45 to move to the right thereby tripping the clutch generally designated I50. Clutch I is a one revolution clutch similar in construction to the other clutches on shaft 54 (Fig. 11) so that no further description of the clutch itself is deemed necessary. A gear I50a on the rear of the clutch is now driven by motor 45 and motion is transmitted through an intermediate gear I41 (Fig. 1) to gear I48 which is fixed to a shaft I49. Shaft I49 protrudes through the hub of ratchet wheel 34 which is loosely mounted thereon and through a portion of the supporting frame of 50 (Fig. 19) and has on its rear extremity a bevel gear I5I which engages a bevel gear I52 (Fig. 3) on a horizontal shaft I 53. Shaft I53 is supplied with a bevel gear I54 at one extremity and I54a at the other. These gears connect horizontal shaft I53 with vertical shafts I56 and I56a through beveled gears I55 and I55a respectively on these vertical shafts.

The purpose of having two vertical driven shafts is to prevent binding. Both shafts are double threaded so that rotation of the shafts in one direction is used both for raising and lowering the abutment generally designated I60. The principle employed here is the same as explained for the horizontal shaft IIO drive, namely, a thread follower I60a which follows one thread while the abutment is moving up and shifts to the other thread to drive the abutment down. The lead of the thread is such that the card is raised to the succeeding days printing position for each tripping of the clutch I50. When the abutment I60 has reached its uppermost position at the end of the weekly period and the programming mechanism operates to shift the day wheel ahead to the first day of the next weekly period, it becomes necessary to keep clutch I50 engaged and allow motor 45 to drive shafts I56 and I56a until the abutment I60 is restored to its lowermost position. The mechanism for accomplishing this will now be explained with reference to Fig. 2.

As abutment I60 nears its uppermost limit of its travel a trip I 6I fastened to the abutment I60 engages an operating arm I62 on a lever I63 and causes extension I62 to be raised so as to rock the lever I63 counterclockwise about its pivot I64. Thus the lower tip of lever I63 is moved to the right and cams downwardly an arm I65 which is pivoted on a stud I66. Lever I63 assumes a position in which its lower tip is flush with a step I64a on arm I64. The movement of the lower tip of lever I63 to the right, after being initiated by the action of trip I6I against operating arm I62, is furthered by the urging of a hairpin spring I61. Then, upon the operation of latch arm I45 to engage clutch I50 as previously described, an extension I44a of arm I44 is rocked downwardly. Extension I44a protrudes through the forked end of arm I65 so that the latter is moved downwardly as well. The lower tip of arm I63 is then moved to the next step I652) on arm I65 by the action of spring I61. In this position of arm I65, the latch arm I45 is held so that it cannot latch up the clutch I50. The clutch, once engaged, continues to drive shaft I56 and I56a, and the abutment I50 moves downwardly because the thread followers I60a have reached the end of the up thread and are guided in the down thread of these shafts. Besides keeping the clutch I50 engaged, however. it is necessary to keep the motor circuit closed in order to drive the abutment I60 back to its starting point. This is accomplished by a mechanical arrangement cooperating with an extension I68 on the arm I65 which is moved to the left as arm I 65 is moved downwardly thereby causing a bell crank I 69 to be rocked clockwise so as to force arm I10 down. The lower tip of arm I10 on its downward travel engages arm 40 and causes the latter arm to move down, thus transmitting leftward movement to contact operating arm 42 to close the motor contacts 43.

As abutment I60 nears its lowermost limit of travel, the lower end of trip I6I strikes against an operating projection IN on an arm I12 forcing this arm downwardly. Arm I12 is pivotally connected to lever I63 by a stud I13, and therefore the lower tip of lever I 63 is moved back to the left allowing arm I10 to rise as bell crank I 69 rocks back to the left under the action of its spring I69a. Thus, arm 40 is permitted to move upwardly and contact operating arm 42 to move to the right to open the motor contacts 43 is fixed to a shaft Ml.

through a portion of the frame iiil'(Fig. 4) and thereby breaking the motor circuit. Concurrently, the arm lab, in moving upwardly, allows extension Nita to move in the same direction so that latch arm Hi moves into normal position to latch up clutch E56 at the end of a revolution.

Now considering the machine from the operators standpoint. when an employee manually inserts his time card into a card receiver I (Fig. 3) and lowers ituntil its bottom edge forces a pair of bail operating ears llii down so as to rock the bail i'il (Fig. 15) to the rear about its pivot shaft Iii an automatic printing operation is initiated as follows: Bail Ill operates another bail its which is pivoted at each end to a support generally designated E86 and is positioned at right angles to bail Ill. Motion is transmitted through an attachment It! on bail ill to carry horizontal arm I82 to the right. Arm 82 slides in a guide Hi3 and rests against the upper tip of a latching arm assembly EM (Fig. '7). Consequently, as arm IE2 is moved to the right, latching arm assembly m4 is rocked in a counterclockwise direction so that the lower end l-Wia moves to the right and trips the print M clutch assembly generally designated 1% which is mounted on clutch shaft 53 along with the rest of the clutches already described. Latching arm 58% also causes arm lid to move down at this time to close the motor contacts to start the motor. A gear Hi5 (Fig. 3), mounted on the face of clutch Nil, engages with a gear I88 which Shaft 18'? protrudes has a cam E85 fixed to its rear extremity. A cam follower iiiila rides on cam 58% and is urged in firm contact with the cam by a spring I89. Immediately after cam I88 begins to rotate, cam follower iida dropsoif the high point of the cam under the urging of spring I538. The cam follower being pivoted on a stud iii! the other end of the cam follower will move up sharply against the base of the hammer i932 causing the top portion of the hammer to fly toward the front (Fig. 6). The hammer is pivoted on a shaft I93 and strikes a blow on a piunger M4 to force a platen W5 toward the type wheels to effect a printing operation on the card.

Meanwhile the printing clutch lilfi continues to rotate through one revolution. A detent roller idii (Fig. '7) rides out of the depression in the clutch cam Hitler and as it does so it transmits motion through a short shaft it! to a pair of similar arms 93 (one behind the other). The

front arm of the'pin bears down on arm no to keep motor contacts 63 closed through mechanism already described and the rear arm of the pair depresses one end of lever 1%!) so that the other endof this lever is moved upwardly and, through a link 2%, raises arm I82 above the tip of latch arm assembly i8 4. The purpose of this is to keep the motor running to drive the print 'mechanism through one revolution and to provide means to prevent more than one printing operation for each operation of the bail ill by the time card as previously described.

Returning now to the card receiver carriage mechanism, the horizontal drive for which through shaft Illl was already described, it is seen from the view shown in Fig. 14 that the lower part of card receiver W5 is connected to a carriage tubing assembly and a plate H5, and the upper part of the card receiver rides along aguiderail -I Hi. The carriage tubing assembly provides means tomanually move the card replate 'ceiver H5 temporarily to an outof-program printing position. This is accomplished by first operating small levers located at the top of the card receiver H5 on either side. The operator by squeezing lever H2 against projection H3 (Fig. 14) causes the rockable member I I4 pivoted at lMa to be rocked clockwise forcing link H1 down thus moving bell crank l l8 clockwise about its pivot so as to force an arm M6 (Fig. 16) back within the walls of a carriage tubing supporting IM. A bail 38 connects the operating mechanism for bell crank H8 with similar operating mechanism for another similar bell crank at the opposite end of the card receiverso that arm his (Fig. 16) is also forced back within tubing support plate PW. The card receiver may now be manually moved into the desired printing position in either direction against the action of a spring M9 (Fig 17). One end of this spring is attached to -a Washer 65-! which covers one end of a tubing I58, and the otherend of the spring M9 is attached to a washer 151a which covers the end of a tubing -l59. Upon manual movement of the card receiver to the left tubing 5% is carried to the left along with plate I41 thereby extending spring [49 in the manner shown in Fig. 17. The remaining parts of the carriage remain in their normal position on the horizontal shaft H9. Upon manual movement of the card receiver to the right, tubing 159 along with plate i l! is carried to the right extending spring hi9 and leaving the remaining parts of the carriage in their normal position. Thus, when the hand of the operator is released from the card receiver it returns automatically to its normal in-program position under the urging of spring M9. It willbe noted in connection with the relative movement between the card receiver and the lower carriage mechanism that the tubing assembly has two support'plates M1 and M la. Plate Hlla is secured to plate H5 which in turn is fastened to a bearing H I. Plate I41 is, as previously described, fastened to the card receiver. The fact that the support for the tubing is split into two plates permits the operation of the carriage tubing just described to make. possible the manual shifting of the card receiver for a desired out-of-program registration.

It might be well to mention at this time that although the card receiver may be manually shifted out of program that printing cannot be effected unless the card receiver is-held in some printing position. This is controlled by a mechanical interlock between the print clutch trip mechanism and the card'reoeiver. The mechanism for this includes-a pawl 2'ill (Figs. 8a, 8b) whichis pivotedattached to a bracket 202 on a portion of the frame so. This pawlhas a single tooth which rides along a slotted member 203 on the card're'ceiver as-the card receiver is moved. Upper end or" a bell crank 28154 rests against the tip of 3 pawl 20! and the lower end is-normallypositionedunder arm 82. Bell crarik-2ll4 ispivotally mounted on a bracket its which is attached to the frame 5t, A-spring-iiit attached to the bracket and 'bel1 crank, urges the "bell crankto rock in a clockwise direction about its pivot. When the tooth of pawl if'iil is-not ina slotof the member 203, however, pawl 2t! rocks bell crank 26 counterclockwise (FigrBb) to raise arm i552 above-the tip of printing clutch latch arm is i (Fig. 7) so that the print clutch-cannot be tripped. 'Tliusonly when pawl Zill 'is seated in one of the slots'o'i memberiflt, or in other words,

gears 2II and M8, drives ribbon shaft I33 to space the ribbon. The ribbon reverse mechanism is controlled by the ribbon or manually by the shifting of a pair of levers 2I9 (one of which is shown in Fig. 5) connected by a link 220. These levers perform the function of shifting shaft 2I6 to the right or left so as to engage or disengage gear 2II with gear 2I8. When shaft 2H5 is shifted to the right a gear similar to 2I'I on the other end of shaft 2H3 meshes with a gear similar to 2I8 on ribbon shaft 133a (Fig. l) to drive 2 the ribbon in the reverse direction. The ribbon reverse mechanism is old in the art and no further explanation is believed necessary.

Interlocking means are provided to prevent the possibility of a printing operation from taking place while the type wheels are in motion or while some program shift operation is occurring. Should an employee insert his time card in the card receiver in the usual manner at a time when a program operation is occurring, no registration will be made, thus doing away with blurred or out-of-column printing, This is accomplished in a simple manner as follows: Each of the clutches on the clutch shaft 53 are provided with a detent arm and roller and are loosely mounted on a common shaft (37. The operation of each of these detent arms are similar, therefore the one associated with the type wheel and program clutch 60 will be described as representative (Fig. The detent arm 3'! is forced down as its roller rides out of the recession in the periphery of the cam 59 as previously described. Arm 3'! is loosely mounted on shaft I9! but a detent bracket 3th is fixed to this shaft. Shortly after arm 37 has begun its downward movement it encounters a projection on bracket 31?) and consequently shaft I91 rocks slightly in a clockwise direction. Referring now to Fig. 7, it will be remembered that a pair of arms I98 are fixed to the shaft I9! and therefore are rocked downwardly. The same mechanism which was already described for preventing more than one printing operation each insertion of a time card in the card receiver is now employed to prevent printing while the program operation is occurring. That is, the rear arm of the pair I98 bears down on lever I93 to cause link and arm I82 to be raised. Arm I82 in its raised position clears the top of latch assembly I84, and therefore the print clutch I99 cannot become engaged. It will be noted that the front arm of the pair I98 forces arm I'IIl down to keep the motor contacts closed during the revolution of any of the program clutches. At the end of a revolution the roller on the end of the detent arm 31 seeks the recession in the periphery of cam 59 under the urging of its spring and the mechanism including arms If!) and I82 are restored to normal.

The circuit diagram of the machine as set forth in Fig. 19 is very simple. The closing of motor contacts 43 completes a circuit through the motor from positive line, wire 22I, motor contacts 43, motor 45, wire 222, to negative line. A timing device such as synchronous motor 225 is connected directly across the line so as to be continuously running by a circuit from positive line, wire 223, wire 224, synchronous motor 225 via wire 22'! to negative line. The synchronous motor 225 operates cam contacts 226 closing these contacts once each minute for a brief interval of time. The closing of contacts 226 establishes a circuit to energize magnet 25 as follows: Positive line wire 223, magnet 25, contacts 226, via wire 22'! to negative line.

A clock face 230 may be provided as shown in Fig. l, the minute hand 23I for which is driven through suitable gear reduction from type wheel shaft 68 (Fig. 8) to which it is connected by gears 233 and 234 and shaft 236. The front end of shaft 234 is shown in Fig. l and the gear drive from this shaft to the minute hand is such that the minute hand is moved ahead one minute graduation for each advance of the minute type wheel. The hour Wheel 2332 is moved slightly ahead at the same time by simple gear reduction familiar in the art.

.The general construction of the machine provides for removal of the front part including the type wheel unit and clock, program mechanism, clutches and magnet assembly as a unit by the loosening of four screws 235 (Fig. 1). The remaining part of the machine, which is shown in Fig. 3 is then easily accessible for repair or replacement of parts. The above disassembly can be accomplished because of the fact that the clutch shaft 53 and the detent shaft IS'I are broken and a coupling inserted in each. These couplings are designated 285 and 221 respectively (Fig. 2). In replacing the front portion of the machine, it is necessary to first connect these couplings and see that bevel gear I5! meshes with bevel gear I52 (Fig. 2) properly and then replace the four screws 235. The male member 205a of the clutch shaft coupling 285 and the female member 231a of the detent shaft are shown in Fig. 3.

Reviewing now briefly the operation of the machine, it has been shown how a minute type wheel and a program disk are advanced one po' sition as a result of the engaging of a drive clutch under the control of a magnet which is energized by an impulse sent to it each minute by a timing device. The hour and day wheels, unlike the minute wheel, are freely mounted on a type wheel unit shaft and moved thereabout by spring carrying mechanism. The program disk makes one revolution every six hours and cooperates with programming fingers and cams to control further clutching means, causing such machine operations to occur as are pre-arranged according to a required program. The programming operations include horizontal shifting of the card receiver carriage, ribbon color shift, and vertical shifting of the card abutment. Each of these operations is positively driven in both directions and the direction of the drive remains the same at all times. The programming mechanism is adapted for minute regulation and the re-occurrence of the same program operation after a two minute interval. Printing is automatic and occurs upon the insertion of a time card in the card receiver and the exertion of a slight downward pressure on the card which causes the tripping of a print clutch to efiect a printing operation. The usual ribbon spacing and reversing mechanism is provided and operates on the print cycle.

While there has been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a single modification it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. 'A program device for scheduling the operation of an associated mechanism for a predetermined time period comprising a rotatable disk and control elements attachable thereto at various points in accordance with a desired program, means for rotating said disk at a timed rate, a plurality of sensing fingers mounted adjacent the disk for sensing the control elements during the rotation of said disk, a rotatable cam having a plurality of leaves spaced apart along the axis of rotation of said cam so as to place each of said leaves in alignment with one of the sensing fingers, the leaves also being spaced circumferentially about said cam so that only one of said leaves is in engageable relation with its related sensing finger at a time to cause operation of the associated mechanism as said device senses a control element, and means actuated by the disk upon completing each revolution to rotate the cam 'so as to bring a different one of said leaves into engageable relation with its related sensing finger for the next revolution of the disk, said disk'being rotated during said predetermined time period through a number of complete revolutions equal to the number of said cam leaves, whereby all of said leaves are brought into engageable relation With their related sensing fingers Within the predetermined time period.

2. A program device for scheduling the operation of an associated mechanism for a predetermined time period comprising a rotatable disk and control elements attachable thereto at various points in accordance with a desired program, a timing motor for driving said disk a plurality of feeler arms extending into the path of the control elements for engagement thereby during rotation of the disk, a shiftable cam having a plurality of spaced operating surfaces one for each feeler arm, said operating surfaces also being spaced circumferentially about said cam so that only one of the operating surfaces is capable of engaging its related feeler arm at a time to effect operation of the associated mechanism as the latter arm is engaged by a control element, and means actuated by the disk upon rotating a predetermined distance to shift the cam so as to bring another of said operating surfaces into engageable relation with its related feeler arm for another predetermined amount of rotation of the disk, whereby all of said operating surfaces are brought into engageable relation with their related feeler arms within the predetermined time period.

Fill

3. A program control unit for scheduling the operation of an associated mechanism for a predetermined tirne period, comprising a rotatable carrier and control elements attachable thereto at various points in accordance with a desired program, means for rotating said carrier chrono- -metrically, a plurality of sensing devices extending into the path of said elements for engage- -ment thereby during the rotation of said carrier, a shiftable cam having a plurality of spaced operating surfaces one for each sensing device, said operating surfaces being also spaced circumierentially about said cam so that only one of the operating surfaces is capable of engaging its related sensing device at a time to effect operation of the associated mechanism as the latter device is engaged by a control element, and means actuated by the carrier upon rotating a predetermined distance to shift said cam so as to bring another of said operating surfaces into engageable relation with its related sensing device for another predetermined amount of rotation of the carrier, whereby all of said operating surfaces are brought into engageable relation with their related sensing devices within the predetermined time period.

gaged by a control element, and means controlled by the disk for moving the cam into and out of engageable relation with said arm during the predetermined time period.

5. A program device for scheduling the operation of an associated mechanism for a predeterm'inedtime period comprising a rotatable disk and control elements attachable thereto at various points to establish a desired program, means for rotating said disk in time sequence, an elongated seeker arm having one end extending into the'path of said elements during the rotation of said disk for engagement thereby and being provided with a yieldable pivot at the other end,

and a cam movable into engageable relation with said arm at a point intermediate the ends of said arm within the predetermined time period under control of the disk to restrain the normal movement of the arm about its pivot as it contacts a control element, thereby causing movement of said pivot to effect operation of the associated mechanism.

CLAIR D. LAKE. 

